Back to civilization..

I survived!! Hello.. Im back. After 2 days and 2 nights of terror (wasnt so bad actually), i managed to get my ass in good condition or should i say whats left of it to Manaus, a city which is still in the Amazon province but well developed. The journey started when we left Humaita early in the morning few days ago into the mouth of Amazon. We were using BR319 or Tranz Amazonia, a highway that was built in 1971 by the government which was under the military back then.It was built hoping that the ppl of Brazil will do some kind of settlement in the Amazon along the road or 'highway' but it was a complete failure. Tranz Amazon runs for 750km from Humaita up to Manaus and it will only take us perhaps 8 hrs the most to complete the journey. But no.. it wont be fun trip without some adventure right? As shown in the picture, the road is badly damaged from the erosion and since there is no proper maintenance been done, the road starts to deteriorated, eating mostly the tarmac and whats left only red earth. During November till May, rain wont stop falling and will overflow the entire Amazon which eventually sweep away the bridges that connects us from one end to another. Mind you, when they built the bridges again, its not some kinda fancy one as no one, NO ONE, goes through the Tranz Amazonia except the telco guys and crazy ppl, like us, Hugo said. Telco guys who comes in during dry time will repair damages that could be repaired with what they have in their pick up truck and also to check on the telco tower which is located in every 40kms along the 'highway'. Now, this telco tower is our 'casa amazonia'.. We drove the whole day and just before sunset, we tried to position ourselves to the nearest tower to sleep and for safety precaution. From what i heard, there's a lot of jaguar and panther wandering around. Tho i doubt they want a skinny boney girl from k.l, i would not risk it as i refuse to die eaten by a cat family.
Anyway, the road was so bad that papa's car had to be pulled out 3 times due to the bad rear tyre and my, my ,my.. I was scared. Im built for speed, not off road and since this is my first time, i started to think that we might not make it to Alaska. But Hugh said that in every expedition like this, there will always be one car that will be on a safe ground to pull another should they get stuck. That made me feel better. We crossed the river 5 times on a barge and i like it! The last river that we crossed was the Amazon River which is so wide that that the big ships and a submarine could actually dock at Manaus Port. Amazing!!
When i was in the Amazon, i didnt let my mind get to head. I know if i let it happen, i'll freak out. Now that im out of it, i could say it.. I was indeed imagining a lot of things while we were in there. What if when i was sleeping in the car that night and i woke up surrounded by some cannibal ppl and they are waiting to eat me. Or what if the man that we saw while driving into the jungle was actually a werewolf? He was walking alone, all happy and smiling.. We all agreed that he was too 'friendly' to be approached. And what about these 2 saloon cars that we saw driving out off the jungle, saying that they were from Manaus when there was neither mud nor broken tail pipe, totally opposite the car that turned back with everything dangling like saggy tities.. Were they the good guys or the bad ones? We doubt. And when we driving late at night on the first day, my eyes and my mind was playing tricks with me. At one point, i started to imagine wentu-wentu and kept quiet, praying in my heart till we reached the telco tower. I didnt shi shi till the next morning. Papa thought i was sick!
By the way, now that we are in Manaus, all safe and sound, im glad that i could actually said that i did it.. AND PROUD OF IT. The city of Manaus is lively and filled with friendly people. On saturday night, they are dancing by the beach, diving off from the pier and other sorts of entertainment. Basically, they are like us Malaysians but minus the annoying part which is mat rempit and judgemental ppl. I like it here and i wish my friends and adik are here to enjoy this part of my trip with me. You guys would love it.. i promise you that. Its a mixture of fun, adventures and cultured/modern lifestyle.. Its different in every stop that we made and i learnt as we drive along north to Alaska. When i left Kuala Lumpur, i didnt know what to expect and whether or not i should arrange a backup plan. Now that im here, seeing incredible things, meeting great ppl and eating food that i would never thought id eat, im loving every second of it and as much as i hate to say this, i dont miss home at all. I do miss adik, mama, friends, food and baby but other than that, im not ready to go home..Not yet, not until i say i do.

10 things i found out so far..

1. Michellin has a rubber plantation of their own in Brazil to support the demands of tires worldwide.. Cool yea. We passed by it yesterday and its impressive. Huge..

2. Some 'ppl' just dont know when to quit conquering other ppl's land even in the modern days and to make it worse, it is far away from their own territory.. Grow up chappies!

3. Ive been to the equator line in Padang, Indonesia ( thanks ma for a trippy trip but i love it, there is a reason why i cried leaving it), stayed overnight at Ciuaba, Brazil known for the central city of South America (you could check the latitude and longtitude) and will be going to the most northern city in the world in Alaska.. where the road ends (for the fuck of it, papa doesnt seem to mind).

4.Piranha soup tastes like sharks fin soup, yummy! I would never eat or put anything funny in my mouth but when im on holiday, so is my body.. Friends, dont get any funny ideas ha..

5. Older man can be attractive and charming and this is new to me.. Ive always like younger ones but from now on, i know what to look for. I understand why some ladies would go for much older men.. I feel ya siti nurhaliza!

6. I will be going through 14 countries from this trip alone, add on 15 countries that ive covered for the past 28 years and hopefully another 14 countries that is on my list but never could i top papa who will reach 101 countries by the end of this trip.. Im jealous!

7. Have been to Iguazu Falls which is the widest and by far the most beautiful waterfall ive ever seen.. On and off tv. Honestly. I would be going to Niagara Falls on the way back from Alaska but to me, it is only famous because it has been commercialized. And in 10 days time, i should be done flying over Angel Falls, Venezuela with the highest drop, approximately 3000mtrs.

8. I could actually live without my jo-jo, with no mood swings.. nada! I guess its 'anywhere but kl' does apply in this category..

9. Spanish is a very very sexy accent, South American girls arent that gorgeous but the men are superlicious! I wouldnt mind having one or ten for that matter. No wonder papa said mama didnt even blink for a second when she was here.

10. I have lived quite an interesting 28 years of life, and despite few pests and depressing pit stops, i would not let a tauge to ruin it after this..

Opening my stoney eyes..

Ola.. It's another cold day and im still waiting to leave Buenos Aires and get on the road. We went to do our visas for Panama and Costa Rica yesterday. Didnt know that side of the world is damn gorgeous! Again, cant wait to get there. Apparently, Costa Rica is one those countries where ppl love to retire.. Americans, Canadians, a skinny Malaysian girl perhaps? And why not? Similar to Malaysia only, again, no rempit. The properties there are selling like hot cakes. For a modern 1200sq apartment overlooking a beautiful, white sandy beach, it costs only USD110,000.Damn i wish i was rich. And shh.. i didnt know its so hard to write down the things i wanna say when there is a cute guy in front of me, looking and smiling, waiting to check in at the lobby. Oohhh..
By the way, today, im going to pay a visit to the National Museum of Fine Arts where they have a complete room of the best national contemporary art.. That should be fun! It is sooo not me but yet around the city, you could find statue work of art which amazes me like a small girl in a toy shop. How can anyone come up with this kind of idea and why, we cant do the same in KL? Maybe when i go back, i'll be an artist. Haha.. When baby can transform into Optimus Prime or mama will let me keep a hippo at home, that will be the day i become one but till then Adios! The only thing that im good with my hands are rolling(you know what..) Sob sob.. i miss my jo-jo.
And since i have so much of me-time now, i started to think. For long, ive been keeping myself in a nutshell, away from my feelings.. far away from him. Its not that he broke my heart that made me this way. I lost the ability to trust anyone. It's worse.. a lot more that just shattered and been stampeed. Thanks to indo songs that could make me cry faster that i could drive, i cracked everytime. Im no idiot but why did i let him step all over?Since i was born, i was well protected by my dad till i met a DUDE (literally,no name pls,hehe) and he took good care of me.. for the next 6yrs till he got married, a wedding ceremony that i love, honestly, for the alcohol that got me thru the night. Then i met him.. and i thought maybe he'd take care of me too. I was wrong and now im paying the price.. So now, the question is, how would i know when am i supposed to be at ease and when am i supposed to be on guard?

From a far,far away land..

After getting off a 25hours flight, I've finally reached Buenos Aires..Thank god!! One more hour and i'll puke my brains out. Hugo checked us in this chic & very zen hotel called ... shit,sorry,i forgot the name and im too lazy to check.Something dazzling................ Screw it! Anyway, took our shower since we both smelled of plane food and head out for dinner.Oh, by the way, i took my first puff with papa when we were in transit at Cape Town & Jo-Berg and boy,it was awkward. To make it worse, during dinner, Ruben ordered wine and they cheers to welcome us.. Awkward, again! But my ,my ,my.. Argentine wine is damn delicious. Papa drank quite a lot and gave me a shock but not to the extend that he got drunk and made a full out of himself as adik put it. I would love that to happen..Tho i'll be freaking out and calling my mom instead, crying for the fact that my dad lost the plot.
Buenos Aires is kinda similar to any Europian city, always entertaining, full of good looking ppl (yeepi!no remp-it) lovely architecture and the meat.. hmm.. yummy. The only thing that im not in favour so much is the language. Dont get me wrong, spanish is a verrryy sexy language, if you know how to speak. And i dont. The end. Although they know english, they will try not to speak and give you a hard time figuring out what the hell they are saying. Its like a mule trying to converse with a turtle. Even now, i have to figure out myself on which box im supposed to press after blogging since everything here is in .....? Smart.. In espianol. So now, im walking around with my spanish-english dictionary, learning. Si..Yes. Ola.. Hello. Gracias.. Thank you. Well, most of it i picked it up from the Godfather. Uno..One. Dos.. Two. Tres.. Three. Thank you Ricky Martin.
Today is their Independence Day and for the first time in 60 yrs, apparently, its snowing. And mind you, im not prepared for this. I was out shopping when it started to drizzle..then snow. Woohoo.. but then, towards nightfall, it went -1. Sob sob, cried my skinny body. Im shivering as im writing this down.. To go through this weather, i bought my very first winter clothing. And more, more, more.. I wanted to buy it when we reach Alaska but it feels like im in the Antartica already.
Tomorrow, we'll be going to the Embassy of Panama and Costa Rica to apply our visas and picking up the car later in the evening.We'll be leaving on friday.. i think.. And the journey will cover at least 22,000km, crossing over 14 countries. Yeepi!!! We'll be going thru the Amazon.. Cant wait and friends, try not to scare me with anaconda and piranha stories. Im scared as it it. Oooohh.. and Columbia too. Think i could smoke some my man? Yes.. If i could shit baby hippos, maybe.

p/s : i miss che pot n since i left it at home, i got myself a new friend, a zebra named olly. zebra=coli ( in malay)=olly. i wrote it down just in case i forgot why i called it olly at the first place. i think my brain is freezing..